Leaping Hearts

I really liked this story. It was so... nice! Don't pull that face. I happen to like nice things.

Leaping Hearts tells us the story of A.J. Sutherland and Devlin McCloud. A.J. is a talented young equestrian who has just bought herself a horse named Sabbath. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if this horse didn't have such a bad attitude. Sabbath throws his riders, won't let blacksmiths anywhere near him, and he hates the water. For obvious reasons, this is the last horse anyone with a lick of sense would buy to compete with. But A.J. sees a whole lot of potential in Sabbath and she wants to take him to the Qualifier, a really big deal in the equestrian world, in two months time. 

But A.J hits a speed bump. She lives at home, involved in the racing aspect of the family-run stables. A.J.'s stepbrother runs the financial side of Sutherland Stables and he refuses to let her bring that crazy horse onto the premises. A.J. then decides that if her horse isn't welcome then she isn't staying at home either. Sabbath isn't an impulse buy for A.J.; he's her chance to prove herself. But it's going to be kinda hard to do that with nowhere to live and nowhere to train.

Enter Devlin McCloud. Devlin is a hugely reclusive former equestrian champion. After his nasty fall and his horse having to be put down as a result, he's been avoiding the equestrian scene entirely. He and A.J. had met at the auction where A.J. bought Sabbath so, after leaving home, A.J. turns to Devlin for help. Initially, Devlin is not so keen on the idea. He is totally jonesing for A.J. and given the temperamental nature of the horse, this can prove dangerous if he's going to be training her. But A.J. won't take no for an answer, which is how she ends up sleeping on Devlin's couch at night and him being her trainer during the day. 

This book is written by Jessica Bird who is otherwise known as the magnificent, awe-inspiring J.R Ward. Those of you who are familiar with the WARDen will probably have read her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, or her more recent Fallen Angels series. This book is nothing like either of these series. There is next to no swearing, the sex is the fade to black type, and there is no actual action. But it was still really good! After having read Shadowfever, this book acted like a palate cleanser. It was light, there were no major twists and turns, and the couple knew that they liked each other right from the start. So long as you don't expect any of the stuff typical of J.R Ward's better known works, you won't be disappointed with this book. 

So if you're looking for a light read that won't give you a headache trying to keep up, give Leaping Hearts a try.

Fever Series: Shadowfever

Whew! I am finally done with the Fever series... for now, anyway. 

I have to admit that I'm kinda glad. While it's an absolutely epic series, it's also absolutely exhausting! I'm not going to give a full recap because it would take me forever to get through everything. So, I'm just going to gloss over the important stuff, and then talk about the things I loved about the series and then the stuff that I wasn't overjoyed with.

The cliffhanger from Dreamfever was not dealt with fast enough for my liking. But that's probably because I'm waaaaay impatient. But it took about eight or nine chapters and by that time I was practically rabid.

Darroc, aka the Lord Master, is killed. I have to admit that it was pretty anti-climatic. I was hoping that this particular bad guy would go with more of a bang.   

We get to know Barrons' merry band of psychopaths better. It's the crazed fangirl in me that lets out a "squeee!" of delight whenever Ryodan or Lor is in a scene. These guys are so fine.

We find out who killed Mac's sister. I have to tell you, I did not see that coming. I felt so bad for Mac because she was totally blindsided.

We find out what happened to Fiona. I have two words to sum this up: not pretty. But she remains helplessly, hopelessly in love with Barrons and it still makes her a little insane. I want to quote Dr Sheldon Cooper here to sum up Fiona's character: Bitches be crazy.

Rowena gets her comeuppance for being such a deeply unpleasant woman. Quite frankly, given everything that happened, I still think they went too easy on her.

Mac and Dani have a bit of a fallout. This is unresolved by the end of the book and will probably pick up again in Dani's book, Iced. 

The sweet, sexy Scotsman Christian McKeltar is having some serious issues. From what I understand, Christian will be playing a key role in Iced.

We find out why Barrons wants the Sinsar-Dubh. It's actually really sad. He's not the selfish jackass we initially think he is. He's still a jackass but one with some serious baggage.  

We meet the Unseelie King, his concubine, the Seelie Queen, and Cruce (the Unseelie Prince, War, who's supposed to be dead). We meet some other fairies too, but they're not so important.

Hmmm... let me think... what else happened...?

Oh, right! Mac and Barrons finally stopped dancing around each other and are now a couple. Again, given their stormy relationship, I thought their coming together would have happened with more of a bang (no pun intended).

I loved this series from beginning to end. It's actually quicker for me to go through what I didn't like about the series than what I loved. Judging by the way I gushed about this series in older posts, it's obvious that I'm a huge fan. 

The twist and turns were dizzying. I was hard pressed to keep up sometimes. I actually think Ms Moning should have slowed things down slightly. Just to give Mac- and the reader- a chance to catch their breath. Then there's Barrons and Mac's relationship. When they finally got together, they could be really sweet. But the events leading up to it sort of reminded me of that song by Pink, You Make Me Sick. They were always fighting! They even did that pushy, shovey thing and, to be honest, it made me uncomfortable. My last little issue is that the story was told in first person. I don't normally have an issue with that but it bugged me a little towards the end of the series. I've heard about people complaining that some of the characters (ie. Barrons) didn't show a whole lot of growth during the series. And that's because we were never in their heads. And I don't think that I'm alone in wondering what was going through Barrons' head at certain points. Like when Mac bought him a birthday cake and he then smashed it into the ceiling. Why did he do that?! I just think it would have added more to the story if we could have had a chance to look from everyone's perspective. 

Just want to share two of my favourite scenes with you:

This is the scene where the Lord Master has his head ripped off. I know it's inappropriate, but I found this inexplicably hilarious. I think it shows how far Mac has come from being spoiled Pink Mac to ruthless Black Mac.

He stumbles and collapses to the ground. Somewhere nearby, I hear garbled sounds. Oh, God, his head is still talking. 

Good! Can he form sentences? I'm in a strong bargaining position. Tell me what I want, and I'll put your head back on. 

A scene between Barrons and Mac after they've hooked up and they're going to go after the Sinsar Dubh.

"Jericho, I feel like my whole life has been pushing me toward this moment."

"That's it. Fate's a fickle whore. We're not going. Take your clothes off and get back in my bed."

And that's it for me on the Fever front until I get my hands on Iced. 

Ain't Life Great?

In 32 days, Lady Gaga will be performing at Soccer City. I don't think I need to tell you that I'm as excited as can be. I know that a whole lot of people don't particularly like the Mother Monster but I don't think that anyone can deny that she is one hell of a performer. 

So, in honour of the fact that I'm going to be watching Lady Gaga on stage in just over a month, I'm posting a video I found for her song "Teeth". I found what looks like the official video but I don't really like it. Too many flashing lights for my taste. But I found another one that I think is pretty hot. 

Just as a warning though: if you're easily offended you will NOT like this video. 

Have a great Monday everybody!

Fever Series: Dreamfever

Wow. This book was quite intense. I just want to warn anybody who might be reading this series and happens to be on Dreamfever: Get Shadowfever and have it on hand before you finish Dreamfever. The cliffhanger for this book will have you going crazy if you don't have the next book. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Right, on to the story. At the end of Faefever, Mac was captured by the evil, pretentious Lord Master and three of the four Unseelie Princes (Death, Famine and Pestilence), who turned her Pri-ya. Being Pri-ya is basically a state where a human becomes addicted to sex with Fae and anytime they're not having sex, they're in agony. They basically lose their minds and all memory of who they are. So, for obvious reasons, this is a hectically bad thing to happen to Mac. Because Mac is so out of it, we have the story told from Dani's perspective for a chapter or two (testing the waters for Iced?). 

You know what I really like about this series? It doesn't let the guys do all the swooping and rescuing. Case in point: it isn't V'lane or Barrons who rescues Mac from the LM and the Unseelie Princes. It's Dani.  

In any case, Mac is now Pri-ya and is in a whole world of trouble. It takes Barrons to sort of... snap her out of it. I have to confess that I am insanely jealous of Mac, given how he accomplishes this. We also see a side to Barrons which was almost, dare I say it, sweet. He was singing and dancing to "Tub Thumping" with her. I know Barrons can be a jackass but his willingness to even listen to that aggravating song to help jolt Mac's memory makes him far nicer than I would have given him credit for. 

Mac does eventually snap out of her nympho state and when she does, man, is she pissed! From here what was left of Pink Mac dies and she becomes Black Mac, who likes leather and guns. 

This book is quite fast paced. Mac has a huge confrontation with Rowena and the other sidhe-seers. She and Barrons go from not being to be able to keep their hands off of each other to being stiff (a poor word choice?) and formal again. We see V'lane and Barrons posturing at each other and learn why V'lane, an immortal Fae, would be so scared of Barrons. Which leads to the burning question: what the heck is Barrons? We still have no clue and it's beginning to bug me. We do see a few little tidbits from Barrons' past but nothing to really explain what he is, why he can be such a jerk, and what his real motives are for wanting the sinsar bubh. 

We are also introduced to Barrons' merry band of psychopaths. I am very interested to learn more about these guys. The only one we've really dealt with is Ryodan, and he seems... I don't know. He's a very mysterious, shady character and from what I've read, he's going to play a major role in Iced, book 6 in the Fever series. 

I just want to throw out a few of my favourite scenes from this book. They all pretty much had me laughing like a loon.

Here Mac has just snapped out of being Pri-ya and is remembering some of what she and Barrons were doing for the past few weeks.

. If I know Jericho Barrons, he was walking around feeling like his dick was the most huge, magnificent, perfect, important creation under the sun.

Which -I winced- I vaguely recalled telling him a time or two.

Well... maybe several times.

Mac and Barrons have had a huge argument and Mac is sitting on the floor. V'lane comes in and sees this, which leads to him and Barrons beating their chests at one another:

   "Did he strike you MacKayla? Say the word and I'll kill him."

"As if you could," said Barrons.

"Perhaps not. But I do enjoy thinking about it."

"Bring it on, Tinker Bell."

And lastly, a little snippet from yet another argument between Barrons and Mac. He's being a pig and I think this is one of the few cases where she gets the upper hand. 

"I'm trying to arm myself so I can fight like I fuck," I snapped. "But you refuse to help."

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to say that word again, Ms Lane. Time was, you had no reservations. 'Fuck me, Jericho Barrons,' you'd say. Morning, noon and night."

"I didn't know getting you to talk was so easy, or I'd have said it five minutes ago. Fuck you, Jericho Barrons."

Just one book left to go in the Fever series. I won't lie, I'll be sad to finish it

Fever Series: Faefever

I love this series so much! Faefever was so good. 

 Mac is one seriously awesome heroine. And the stuff she has to put up with! "Pink Mac" as she refers to her younger, clueless self is slowly being replaced by a darker Mac. She struggles to deal with the nasty habit she picked up from Malluce and, what's worse, she teaches it to Inspector Jayne. I understand why she did it but still... gross. 

Faefever sees Mac dealing with some serious trust issues and she thinks that it's past time to diversify. Who is she to trust? Barrons who tells her diddly squat? V'lane, the death-by-sex fae, who is by his very nature untrustworthy? She thinks she's been relying too heavily on Barrons for her survival and she doesn't quite trust V'lane. That's why she throws poor Inspector Jayne into the mix. 

Mac really is struggling with her relationship with Barrons. I think that to desribe it as "tense" would be an understatement. He teaches her to resist Voice (a little like Harry Potter's imperius curse) and they go after the Sinsar Dubh. I don't think I've mentioned the Sinsar Dubh before. Sorry about that. In short, it's one seriously evil book, full of black magic, that corrupts whoever touches it. Barrons wants it but we don't know why. Mac also gets closer to V'lane, and he gives her a way for her to contact him whenever she needs him by placing his name on her tongue. It works like the mystical equivalent of a cell phone. 

We also deal more with the other sidhe-seers in this book. Rowena, the head of the sidhe-seer council, is a bitch. Dani, the fierce young sidhe-seer with a potty mouth, is awesome. 

Faefever centres around a huge problem: how to keep the walls between the human and fae worlds up. Because once the walls come down, all the creepy Unseelie come out and chaos will ensue. 

 As though all this wasn't bad enough, right at the end she gets captured by people that make Malluce look like the Easter Bunny. Ms Moning and her cliffhangers are a killer! Word to the wise: if you're reading this series get ALL of the books. You will die from not knowing. 

Just to share my favourite moments from the book. Interestingly enough, they all involve Barrons. Sigh... how the mighty have fallen.

After a hair raising run in with the Sinsar Dubh.

I began to cry.

Barrons looked horrified. "Stop that immediately, Ms Lane."

"I can't." I sniffled into my cup of cocoa so he wouldn't see my face.

"Try harder."

I think that may have been panic talking here.

Turns out Barrons is having a birthday soon. Mac decides to get him a birthday cake but, since she doesn't know how old he is, she puts Pi on the cake. It was during this scene that I wished this story was in third person so we could get the slightest clue what's going on in Barrons' head.

"Pi, Ms Lane? I'd pegged you for failing high school math."

"I got a D. The little stuff always trips me up. But the big stuff stuck with me."

"Why Pi?

""It's irrational and uncountable."

Funny girl, wasn't I?

"It's also a constant," he said dryly.

I don't want to spoil anything but, after having read Dreamfever and starting on Shadowfever, I no longer hate Barrons. Yes, he's a creep. But he's a nice creep, if that makes any sense.

Pinch Me, I'm Dreaming...

guess what Guess What GUESS WHAT?!?!

Have you guessed yet? Yes? Are you done guessing? Good. Now I can tell you that...

The Kongos are opening up for Linkin Park's SA tour!

Isn't that so exciting? In 23 days, not only will I be in the presence of a band I've worshiped for years but I'll be watching the Kongos too! 

You can't see me but I'm totally doing the dance of joy right now.

Local Is Lekker

I don't know what rock I was living under for the past couple of months since this song has been out for months, but I only just saw this video last week. It's a remake of Corey Heart's "Sunglasses at Night" done by Locnville, aKing, Die Heuwels Fantasties, Van Coke Kartel, JR and Thieve. It's so awesome!

Listen and enjoy!